The Borough of Newtown Board of Burgesses will probably use its $274,000 in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding on its two schools or at Newtown Hook & Ladder based on discussions at its latest meeting.

“The ARP is quite restrictive on what the money can be used for,” Board of Burgesses Chairman Jay Maher told The Newtown Bee following the board’s December 14 meeting. “It has to be something affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Maher said that Burgess Jim Gaston has been in talks with Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue for a “few ideas on how the money could be used at Hawley School and the Middle School,” both of which are located in the borough. Rodrigue will be formulating a list of possible items that the ARP funds could be used for, and is expected to present the list to the board in the “next month or so.”

“We’ll see what is required and how we can help financially,” said Maher.

Senior Burgess Chris Gardner, also a newly elected member of the Newtown Legislative Council, told The Bee the goal is to “try and do as much good and benefit as many people in the borough as possible.”

Gardner said the focus will be on finding programming needs within the school system rather than projects like the Hawley School HVAC project, which is in the full town’s Capital Improvement Plan.

The board has also spoken with Newtown Hook & Ladder and is looking for ways to help there, possibly with broadband improvements or other infrastructure improvements that may fall within the scope of ARP spending requirements.

“We’re looking to help the firefighters improve services in their new building,” said Gardner. “I’ve been in touch with the chief.”

Gardner said the board has also talked about reaching out to local businesses in the borough and assess their business losses due to COVID.

“It’s possible we’ll offer some grants,” said Gardner. “We have not come to a firm decision.”

Maher said the borough still has time to consider how to use the ARP funding, and is in talks with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities to help it navigate the use of the funding.

“Many municipalities have been challenged in trying to find ways to use this funding,” said Maher, who has noted that how to spend the ARP funds has been on its own agenda for the past four to five months. The borough has until 2024 to spend the money.

“We’re looking to use that time wisely,” Maher said. “We want to make sure to spend that money in the most appropriate way. We have sufficient time to vet out all the options.”

Gardner said the board wants to spread around the benefit the money will bring as broadly as possible.

“We want every resident in the borough to be somehow touched by the money,” said Gardner. “To benefit kids in the district will be a great use of the money. Maybe we can take some of the burden off the taxpayers, or benefit residents by investing in Newtown Hook & Ladder.”

Gardner also said the board is reaching out to constituents for possible ideas on the use of funding.

“If anyone has any ideas it’s good to talk about it,” said Gardner.

According to the US Department of the Treasury, ARP funds can be used by the town for the following:

*Support public health expenditures, by, for example, funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral health care, and certain public health and safety staff.

*Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector.

*Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic.

*Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors.

*Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and storm water infrastructure, and to expand access to broadband internet.

“Within these overall categories, recipients have broad flexibility to decide how best to use this funding to meet the needs of their communities,” states the treasury website.

Reporter Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.